The Cellar - Sept 22nd, 2016: Fast Woman

This is a bicycle...

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This is American cyclist Denise Mueller setting a new woman's bicycle land speed record of 147 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

http://cellar.org/2016/bike1.jpg

That's a very fast woman. Next she's going after the men's speed record of 167mph.

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As you might imagine, the bicycle itself was also heavily modified for the world record attempt. The elongated frame, vibration-dampening seatpost, suspension fork, and custom 17-inch motorcycle wheels with bald tires help to lower Mueller's center of gravity for added stability and keep the ride relatively smooth even as she pushes 150 mph. In these land speed runs, it is critical that the cyclist stay within the draft zone of the pace car.

Bike gearing is often measured in gear inches—a measurement that takes the gear ratio of the drive train and multiplies it by the diameter of the rear wheel. With a standard 26-inch bicycle wheel, for example, a front chain ring with 48 teeth and a rear cog with 24 teeth would give the bike a gear ratio of 2:1, and therefore the setup has 52 gear inches—two times the diameter of the drive wheel. A very high gearing on a road bike will have about 125 gear inches. Mueller's custom bike has 488 gear inches, allowing her to accelerate by pedaling at about 102 RPM when she is already going more than 100 mph.

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